This program, which proposes an exploration of what the notes call lyric music in the 20th century, is built around three sonatas by Othmar Schoeck (1905), Willy Burkhard (1946), and Dieter Acker (1994). The work by Schoeck (1886–1957), written when the composer was 19, is a fairlyRead more conventional although quite lovely three-movement exercise in late Romanticism. Burkhard (1900–1955) writes in a neo-Classic style strongly influenced by Stravinsky (of course), that nevertheless has a strong sense of loss about it. The Sonata for Solo Violin by Dieter Acker (b. 1940) is probably the most interesting music here, written in a rhapsodic style that makes full use of the possibilities of the solo violin in a reasonably consonant context.

The miniatures that make up the rest of the program range from the tiny Allegretto by the aging Richard Strauss that amounts to the theme of a work never written, to the weird quarter-tone works by the ex-patriot Russian Ivan Wyschnegradsky (1893–1979). The oddly named work by Alan Sapp (b. 1922), written about the time of his induction into the army, is a slow, sad little tone poem. Hanns Jelinek (1901–1969) writes 10 little character pieces in his late 12-tone manner, prefaced by 10 epigrams taken from Goethe, spoken by baritone Dietmar Keltz.

The disc’s title translates into “Lyric aspects of our century.” This might seem odd, except that the recordings are now 10 years old and were, presumably, intended for release in the waning years of the 20th century instead of now. I have nothing to compare the performances with, but they seem excellent. The recording is very clear and the notes, though a little odd in places, are informative. Translations, but no texts, are given for the Goethe epigrams.